4 Replies Latest reply: Nov 29, 2011 9:51 AM by Noel Carboni RSS

    Upgrading From CS3 to CS5 Standard

    Inchindown Community Member

      Hi,

       

      Was intending to wait until CS6 came out to upgrade, but now that's no longer possible, I've ordered a CS5 standard upgrade edition. One of the main reasons for upgrading is to get the latest camera raw for my new camera.

       

      Anyone care to give me a heads up on the new features I'll find in CS5 that would be of interest to an advanced photographer who has been using Photoshop since version 3?

       

      Thanks for any info.

        • 1. Re: Upgrading From CS3 to CS5 Standard
          Noel Carboni Community Member

          Not sure whether you're hoping for a roll-up of all the advertisements for two major versions or just some highlights...  I'm willing to do a bit of the latter...

           

          • If you're fond of painting distracting elements out of images, you'll find Content Aware Fill really works.  Content Aware Scaling (that was new in CS4) has its moments as well.
          • Puppet Warp has its moments.  It's useful for unexpected things sometimes, such as straightening out things in panoramas.
          • Lots of new OpenGL-based GPU features that (assuming your computer is up to the task) make the interactive experience quite nicely improved.
          • The Mixer Brush and some other neat brush features that improve the paiting experience.
          • PhotoMerge works better than ever, though it may be a bit more demanding on your computer.
          • New Tabbed View (new in CS4).  You'll have to reconfigure it to get back to a multi-windowed view, and you may not find that even with that reconfiguration you really like the way it works.  It WILL take some getting used to, but take it from another who's used Photoshop since 3.0, it CAN be done, and it's really pretty good once you've gotten over the speed bump.  You may find, as I did, that you ultimately like Tabbed View better.
          • Named workspaces, so you can set up for different modes of operation or quickly return your desktop layout to one you're familiar with.
          • New Camera Raw capabilities, including a slick new 2010 mode that digs slightly more accurate detail out of your raw file.

           

          What video card do you have and what OS are you running on the system you're planning to use for Photoshop CS5.1?

           

          -Noel

          • 2. Re: Upgrading From CS3 to CS5 Standard
            Inchindown Community Member

            Hi Noel,

             

            Thanks for the reply. I wasn't looking for a fully detailed list of the changes, just a few highlights so I might have an idea what to expect when it arrives later this week. Your reply is very helpful.

             

            I will be installing CS5 on an 64 bit HP Pavillion with an Intel Core i7-2600 CPU - 3.40 GHz and 16GB of memory. I'm Running Windows 7 Home Premium. I will also be installing it on an older laptop running Vista.

             

            I have an Nvidia Ge Force GT 545 card with 1GB of ram.

             

            I won't be using CS5 professionally as I have now retired and all my current photography is exclusively as a hobby. I'm sure there are better progs for my needs than CS5, but I've become so used to using Photoshop over the years, I find I don't want to change to Lightroom or PSE or some other lower level prog. I guess I'm hooked on the full version for now, although I think this will be my last update due to the new upgrade policy from  Adobe.

             

            Once again, thanks for the info.

             

            George D

            • 3. Re: Upgrading From CS3 to CS5 Standard
              twenty_one Community Member

              ACR alone is worth the price. And it's real image quality, not convenience and time-savers. That was true going from CS4, and even more so from CS3.

               

              All the rest I can live just as happily without, but that's just me.

               

              EDIT: well, not 64 bits, of course.

              • 4. Re: Upgrading From CS3 to CS5 Standard
                Noel Carboni Community Member

                That'll be a nice system for Photoshop work, George.  I also have 16 GB and Photoshop loves it.  You can set your 64 bit Photoshop RAM usage to 90% or higher (I use 95%) with that much RAM in the system.

                 

                Personally I usually advise people use ATI instead of nVidia display cards, but both name brands are worthy.

                 

                Regarding this being a "last upgrade"...  It may seem that way now, but they will, of course, tempt us with future "must have" features. 

                 

                It's really not an awful thing to buy every upgrade Adobe releases...  Consider that at this moment you're both facing a larger "shock" moving up two major versions instead of just one, as well has having done without a number of CS4 (and CS5) features that you might have found useful over the past several years.  I know that for me there are things I was able to do with Photoshop CS4 that made me FAR more money than the upgrade cost, which seems like a lot but really isn't much in the grand scheme of things...  How does a $200 upgrade compare to what you pay, for example, for cell phone service?  Or to the cost of a new lens for your camera?

                 

                -Noel